Ramblings and Reviews: DoomWar, Spider-Woman, & more!

Welcome back for some more of my Reviews! This is round two from the week of March 17th. I’ll have one more round from that week, then two from the week of the 24th. This one is a sad one for me for one reason but I’ll save that for later…now let’s get to it!

First up is…DoomWar #2 of 6.Publisher: MarvelWriter: Jonathan MaberryArtist: Scot Eaton (cover by John Romita Jr.)

This was another action packed issue for sure! We see the X-Men and the new Black Panther (no, it’s not T’Challa anymore-check out the new series) kicking the crap out of all the traitors that kidnapped Storm and are trying to kill them. Nightcrawler tries to use his teleportation powers to get T’Challa inside to fight Doom, but Doom has fortified the chamber with some kind of spell to stop Kurt. T’Challa then goes in the old fashioned way; he pounds and tears apart everything in his sight. Once he gets into the chamber though, he is met by Doom who has his palm blaster to Storms head. He tells T’Challa to open the door to the Vibranium vault or she dies. Without hesitation, T’Challa says no and calls Doom’s bluff. Doom then says he is the one victorious here and throws Storm at T’Challa, then teleports away. Great action and artwork to match. 3.5/5

Next up is…Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #1 of 2.Publisher: MarvelWriter(s): Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (back up story by Paul Tobin)Artist: Ariel Olivetti (Back up story artwork by Reilly Brown)

In this issue, we see the funeral of Hercules and the gathering of heroes afterward. Amadeus Cho calls out for the Gods of Olympus to come but they ignore him. Instead, Thor and the Warriors Three, Bruce Banner, Angel, Namor, Namorita, and a bunch of others show up to console Cho and reminisce about their memories of The Lion of Olympus. We hear Thor talk of a wild adventure, followed by Namor, who also talks about a pugilistic meeting with Hercules. The next group is the ladies in the crowd: Black Widow, Namorita, Snowbird, and Alfyse, Queen of the Dark Elves, all tell of their “intimate” relationships with Hercules. Bruce Banner concludes the heart warming conversation but when Amadeus tries to say more, the Gods of Olympus he cried out to earlier finally show up and toss everybody except Cho out of the temple. There was also a back up story that showed Venus and Namora go to a nude beach and other points of interest to Hercules to tell people he’s dead. The last page does show a strange beast attacking them on an island so maybe it will be OK. Overall the book was pretty good but I don’t know how this story will still be interesting without Herc. 3/5

Thirdly I have…Avengers vs. Agents of Atlas #3 of 4.Publisher: MarvelWriter: Jeff Parker (back up story by Paul Cornell)Artist: Gabriel Hardman (cover by Humberto Ramos) (Back up story artwork by Leonard Kirk)

This book was just like the previous two issues except the action was a lot cooler, thanks to the Hulk. He fought with the Avengers and the Agents of Atlas for pretty much the entire book. We got to see Pym and Marvel Boy start to figure out why these time/ space anomalies keep happening but just as they do, the being who’s causing them is ready to pounce! There was a funny back up story with Venus answering “fan mail questions” about love. She answered letters from Hercules, Jocasta (who used the name Lonely and Bulletproof), and even Deadpool. Wade drew her some pictures because he couldn’t keep it clean in his letter. Very funny stuff. 3.5/5

I saved this one for last because it will undoubtedly be the longest for two reasons. First it’s a really good book, and secondly because without any notice or provocation its been cancelled! Yes the readers of this book were in for a real treat when they got to the last page to find a letter from Mr. Bendis stating that basically the book is getting “shelved” because artist Alex Maleev is “tired” from doing the motion comic and Bendis doesn’t think anyone else is up to the challenge to take over. Anyhow on to the book itself… We just witnessed Jessica get away from the clutches of the Thunderbolts and now she’s back on the trail of her Skrull target. She finds him in a strip club (yep, after traveling millions of light years even Skrulls just want to look at chicks I guess), where the two start a brawl for the ages. Just as the Skrull starts to give her a beating, the New Avengers show up to lend a hand. At first she doesn’t think they are the real thing but her Skrull/ alien detection device tells her otherwise. The team of Avengers then disposes of the Super-Skrull and Jessica is left to make a decision: Keep hunting alien threats or go back to the team. She decides to make her own way and glides off into the sunset. Great book…that should keep going, not get shelved due to the talent being tired. Just my humble opinion. 4/5

OK, that’s it for this round but I’ve got four more from this pile and will be back with those reviews in no time flat so check back soon!

8 Comments

As for the Herc issue, I thought it was hilarious…did you catch the Northstar bit? Yikes.

And I was also disappointed to hear Spider-Woman got cancelled. I can understand Maleev being over worked though, but I think the better solution would be to can the freakin’ web comic so the published comic can continue to thrive!

@Aron- I thought I would be lost to with DoomWar, but it’s not hard to follow or figure out what preceded this story.
@Speech- Spider-Woman had a good vibe and always left me wanting to read the next ish,
@marie- Thanks!

That’s good to know, Billy. Thanks! The only local comic-reading friend I have dropped the Panther book, as well, so he couldn’t tell me what was going on. If it’s not that confusing, and since it is only at #2, I may just pick them up!